was just wondering....what's the latest with PEX? are people still shifting from copper to pex for water supply? seems so much easier to install than copper but i still don't trust it? what about bpa? can pex be used for hot water radiators. awhile ago, a licensed plumber wanted to use pex for my radiators and i refused.

Based on the posts in this forum, I recently called Bryon Hutchinson
to fix a bathroom leak in our building.
Big thank you to the many people in this forum who recommended him!
By far, he was the best plumber I have dealt with.
He responded right away, willing to come in early next morning to fix the issue.
He was very meticulous in analyzing the source of the leak,
and took his time to explain things to us. His pricing was very reasonable, especially compared
to quotes I got from other plumbers in the area.
He is very honest and friendly, and a person who is confident of his work.
I am not surprised that he has such a loyal base of customers in the area.
I would strongly recommend Bryon for any plumbing needs.
PS: I did not find any reviews of Bryon on either yelp or angie's list. He is not internet
savvy and doesn't need to ; his work speaks for itself. Selfishly, that's kind of good as he
can concentrate on servicing his existing clients rather than marketing himself to new clients.

No insurance and no bonding. No assurance he has any knowldge of UPC. No assurancr he has any core competency aside from sweating copper and snaking drains. Having a license ensures at least some degee of accountability as well. Perhaps ok for sweating some copper or snaking a drain, but not so much for boilers and combustion appliances.

griffin wrote:Byron used to be my plumber but after two bad jobs that he never came back to fix, I have to switch. Does anyone have a plumber recommendation other than Byron?

(To be fair to Byron, he responds quickly, price is fair)

I've used Byron twice. His price seemed a little high on one job and he left a big mess. He's also got an ego bigger than the State of NJ, and I didn't really need or want the attitude (I'm a highly-mechanical guy but the job was a little too big for me to handle by myself or I would have). He brought the wrong part after I SPECIFICALLY told him what was needed so he had to run back to Bayonne to his supplier. Meaning a 1 hour job took 3 hours.

I've used Charles Mello several times in the past. Nice old guy, old school, and knows his stuff. Also reasonable on the price.

hudson57 wrote:re. byron: please note, he works under someone elses license!!! talks the talk and gets away with it.

Is this true?

I used him once about 2 years ago and I can confirm that's true-

I hired him to replace a 50 gallon tall-type water heater and I told him in advance that I wanted the same type. He arrived with a 40 gallon lowboy model in his truck and tried to convince me to accept it, which I refused. So then he drives back to southern Bayonne to get the one I wanted while I sat around waiting for him. What should have been a 45 minute job ended up taking more than 4 hours...

CCoon wrote:Beware Carmine Aumenta. He tried to rip me off after Hurricane Sandy even through I was a paying customer for years before. He also bragged to others working on my building that he was overcharging due to the situation. This man is a snake.

There are laws which prevent contractors from gouging during a natural disaster. He should have been reported.

CCoon wrote:Beware Carmine Aumenta. He tried to rip me off after Hurricane Sandy even through I was a paying customer for years before. He also bragged to others working on my building that he was overcharging due to the situation. This man is a snake.

There are laws which prevent contractors from gouging during a natural disaster. He should have been reported.

I've used Byron twice. His price seemed a little high on one job and he left a big mess. He's also got an ego bigger than the State of NJ, and I didn't really need or want the attitude (I'm a highly-mechanical guy but the job was a little too big for me to handle by myself or I would have). He brought the wrong part after I SPECIFICALLY told him what was needed so he had to run back to Bayonne to his supplier. Meaning a 1 hour job took 3 hours.

I've used Charles Mello several times in the past. Nice old guy, old school, and knows his stuff. Also reasonable on the price.

Beware Carmine Aumenta. He tried to rip me off after Hurricane Sandy even through I was a paying customer for years before. He also bragged to others working on my building that he was overcharging due to the situation. This man is a snake.

Byron is a solid plumber. ONly does plumbing. Doesn't pretend to be a jack of all trades. Did a job for me and actually charged me less than the quote and helped me out with a clogged drain free of charge. He's reliable and personable.

griffin wrote:Byron used to be my plumber but after two bad jobs that he never came back to fix, I have to switch. Does anyone have a plumber recommendation other than Byron?

(To be fair to Byron, he responds quickly, price is fair)

I've used Byron twice. His price seemed a little high on one job and he left a big mess. He's also got an ego bigger than the State of NJ, and I didn't really need or want the attitude (I'm a highly-mechanical guy but the job was a little too big for me to handle by myself or I would have). He brought the wrong part after I SPECIFICALLY told him what was needed so he had to run back to Bayonne to his supplier. Meaning a 1 hour job took 3 hours.

I've used Charles Mello several times in the past. Nice old guy, old school, and knows his stuff. Also reasonable on the price.

skyl4rk wrote:Wanted to leave another positive review for Byron/Hutch Mechanical and since he doesn't seem to be on Yelp or Angie's List - it's gonna go right here.

I called Byron up Tuesday morning about a mystery leak in my kitchen at 7:45am and he called me back at 7:49am. Points right there. He arrived when he said he would arrive and fixed the leak the following day (when he could bring all the right tools and his helper). Turns out it was a relatively small job and didn't cost an arm and a leg. Husband and I were both impressed at what a nice guy he is and he seemed very honest and didn't upsell the job. Will definitely be calling him again in the future should anything come up.

Funny world we live in when just being nice and doing an honest job is what makes a person stand out like a bright and shining star!

I wish I had known about Byron the last (and, only!) time I had to call in a plumber to do some work. After calling Kook & Son for help with a kitchen sink and faucet issue, I vowed never to allow a plumber into my place, unless absolutely necessary. First, they worked on a stuck valve. The guy they sent decided that the way to deal with the problem would be to force turn the valve using a pair of vise pliers. Well, guess what happened next? He ripped the valve off, and water started gushing everywhere, causing a mild flood. He proved useless at dealing with the problem he caused and spent more than an hour trying to fix it. With regards to the faucet, the same useless dude told us that the faucet couldn't be fixed and that a new one would be needed. Here is the kicker: they charged us for several hours of labor!! Labor incurred because of their ineptitude. I argued with them about the labor and they halved the labor charge. When they asked about coming back to replace the faucet, I told them to take a hike. I went to Home Depot and bought a kit that includes all the internal parts of the faucet stem and repaired it myself. The kit was 20 or 40 dollars, instead of the over the top cost of a new faucet. Those damn Delta kitchen faucets are EXPENSIVE! The savings were several hundred dollars, and I learned something new. Lesson: do not call on Kook & Son for a plumbing issue, unless you want some inexperienced person to make things worse.